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Taking Security from Effects – an interview with Dieter Hermann of Printcolor

By Le Vin Chin

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Tell us more about what you do.

Our roots are in graphic arts, exclusively graphics applications like screen printing. Our orientation is towards brand protection and security applications. There is a steadily growing need for products – in areas such as packaging, auto parts, electronics, etc. – to have more protection against falsification, to assure a brand’s market share tomorrow. With products continually developed over the last 50 years, we are developing an overall portfolio of security techniques.

We are unique in offering a complete solution for security. Presently we are working in two fields: a graphic oriented one, in which anyone can perceive the security elements: interference effects, mirror effects and other visual effects. The other one is where the security feature can be detected with the help of auxiliary devices.

Does this mean that the security effects or elements are integrated into the design of the product -packaging, for example - from the beginning?

It has to match. For a designed object, the easiest is when it can be protected using features which are visually similar to the objects design itself. This is not of so great significance in the field of parts, where only one aspect is important: is it genuine or an imitation?

When it comes to CDs it often happens that the adhesive labels on the wrapping do not suit the graphics and look of the CD cover. Did I understand correctly that with your project you want to create a graphic correlation between the labels and the actual object of purchase?

Depending on the product, the label plays a different role. If I have to choose between thirty shampoos, for instance, on the shelves of a supermarket, the visual, cosmetic appearance is often crucial for the selection of the product. Even the security element can be an effective visual “trigger” for the purchase. The buyer might be drawn by security features such as holograms or other striking characteristics of a security label. For other products, like CDs, the security label only has a minor impact. It will be thrown away after purchase and the packaging is removed. We thus have to differentiate between a design market with optically effective elements and a pure security market where design has no value. We do also co-operate with graphic designers in areas where design is important, like supermarket displays. This is especially true for the valuable area of perfumes and cosmetics. We are talking about high-priced, authentic articles and “no fakes allowed!”. We collaborate closely with them to enable the correct visual appearance of the end products.

Tell us about your books of color stylings.

One is called spectraCRYPT™, where we integrate all effects for the field of trademark protection and security. These are sophisticated effects – special blends covering fields such as interference colors and photochromic colors – which only exist in the field of security and cannot be used in graphic applications or decoration/finishing.

The other book is called easyGRAPH™. It deals more with the visual, the depiction of interactive effects for the finishing industry which can influence the end-customer’s buying decision in a positive way. This embraces cosmetics packaging, cardboard and labels.

Your sample books show many different stylings. How did you develop them? How did you choose this specific red with this specific metallic effect?

We are highly client-oriented. We sit together with them and develop overall concepts with them. One specific client works in the field of print decorative finishing. We went through all the groups of visual effects with them, be they pearlescent, hologram or interference. Thereafter, we determined a series of three to eight effects per target group. We even had olfactory colors – colors with scents. Ten effects were worked on, matching to seasons and mood, resulting in overall concepts which were specifically targeted at the end use. We work out such concepts with many clients. What you see in our books is a compilation we have elaborated out of all the individual projects of our clients.

The interesting thing about these books is, therefore, that they represent a collected “trend” of the whole market!

This is valid for this example of print finishing – for advertising, hand-outs and magazine inserts – sure. Our clients know what appeals to their end-users because they work with their advertising agencies, do market research and marketing – and they discover they can get very close to the market through us as well!

And this can be applied to every industry. We also closely collaborate with the automotive industry. There they are already visualizing trend colors that will only appear in three to five years time, so one can already find the “documentation” for future trend colors today.

When are your ideas for colors, patterns and effects developed? Are they the starting point, or do they come from what you know can be delivered by the raw material suppliers?

Of course the collaboration with the manufacturers of effect pigments plays a central role. As soon as something new – such as a new effect pigment – appears, we are the first to order samples and to research their subsequent application in the different technologies: Is this for UV, or for screen? This is how new ideas are generated, which we ultimately bring to the customer. It only very rarely happens that someone addresses us proactively and says they’ve heard about something and can we produce it: Can a UV print be detectable by sound? Some of these can often be far away from reality!

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